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Chowder (TV series)
Chowder is an American animated television series created by C. H. Greenblatt for Cartoon Network. It is also the first Cartoon Network original series to premiere during Stuart Snyder's tenure, as Jim Samples had resigned months before the series premiere. Chowder premiered on November 2, 2007, and ran for three seasons with 49 total episodes. It garnered one Primetime Emmy Award win, six Annie Award nominations, and two additional Emmy Award nominations during its run. The series finale, "Chowder Grows Up," aired on August 7, 2010. Characters Each character is named after a type of food or dish. Main * Chowder (voiced by Nicky Jones): A 10-year-old chubby purple hybrid who serves as an apprentice under the chef Mung Daal, Chowder lives with Mung Daal and his wife, Truffles, in a room at the top of the catering business. Chowder wants to become a great chef, but he is very impulsive and scatterbrained and often gives in to his urges. He is always hungry and eats anything, even a customer's order. Chowder can also regurgitate objects, and he is used as a storage container by the other characters. According to Greenblatt, he is a composite of a cat, a bear and a rabbit, and his species was verified in at least one episode. C. H. Greenblatt voiced his adult self in the last episode. * Mung Daal (voiced by Dwight Schultz): The elderly chef who runs the catering company at which Chowder works. Although his exact age has not been stated, he has mentioned that he has cooked for at least 386 years, and he celebrated 450 years of marriage to Truffles (see below). He is a light on blue-colored humanoid and is named after the Indian dish mung daal, that Greenblatt had originally planned to give Mung an Indian accent, but later decided against it. Instead, he speaks with a British accent. * Shnitzel (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in "The Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin", and John DiMaggio afterward): A 38-year-old taupe rock monster and professional chef who works at Mung Daal's Catering Company. His vocabulary consists almost entirely of "radda", while it's translated as "okay", although he sometimes says other simple words. He talks in the episode "The Trouble with Truffles" because he finally gets calm enough. Shnitzel is the "straight man" to the other more excitable characters and is frequently agitated. He gets stuck with menial labor or cleanup duty, as well as the heavy lifting because he is extremely strong. Although usually angered by Chowder's antics, Shnitzel really has a soft spot for Chowder, as he cries when it was thought that Chowder has vanished forever. Kevin Michael Richardson voiced Shnitzel for the debut episode "The Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin" and was replaced at the last moment by DiMaggio due to Richardson being busy with other projects at the time. * Truffles Daal (voiced by Tara Strong): A mushroom pixie/fairy and Mung Daal's wife who handles the business side of Mung's catering business. She is an extreme choleric. Greenblatt said that he based Truffles on his mother. Greenblatt said that he initially found difficulty in working on any story with Truffles since the character could be "so abrasive" that the Chowder staff had to be "a little more sensitive about finding her softer side." Greenblatt said that the staff eventually decided that "a little Truffles goes a long way." Therefore, she would appear occasionally in Chowder in a manner similar to how Oscar the Grouch appears on Sesame Street. * Kimchi (voiced by C. H. Greenblatt): Chowder's pet, who lives in a cage next to his bed. Kimchi is an anthropomorphic flatus (due to the unpleasant odor of kimchi). He likes things with odors unpleasant for the other characters, and he "talks" by making flatulent sounds. Kimchi was first seen in the episode "The Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin". Kimchi is usually shown with a blank personality but in "Stinky Love" it is shown that he has an opinion. * Gazpacho (voiced by Dana Snyder): A woolly mammoth storekeeper who sells strange produce and ingredients at the farmer's market. He does his best to offer advice to Chowder when needed. He lives with his overbearing mother, who never appears on screen, but is present at the end of episode "Gazpacho!". In "The Spookiest House in Marzipan" it is hinted at that Gazpacho has no mother, and that he actually suffers with dissociative identity disorder, but creator Greenblatt says this was merely to "pay homage to Psycho". Gazpacho shows no interest in moving out and improving his own life. Gazpacho's worst enemies are ninjas. Greenblatt named him after the cold soup gazpacho; Greenblatt said that he did not know why, but the name suited the character immediately. * Panini (voiced by Liliana Mumy): A 10-year-old pink cabbit who has a crush on Chowder and reminds him at every opportunity. Chowder does not return the feelings and responds with "I'm not your boyfriend!" whenever she greets him. Panini is an apprentice to Ms. Endive, and is also possessive of Chowder. Panini gets jealous when she sees Chowder with another girl, in which Chowder really does to avoid her. Her original character concept had her bully Chowder in a manner described by Greenblatt as similar to Angelica Pickles from Rugrats. Greenblatt removed the pointy ears since he felt this did not fit in with the rounded shapes in Chowder. Greenblatt did not like characters similar to Angelica and believed that he needed to make Panini "cuter and sweeter". Greenblatt said that the details of Panini formed when the creator decided that Panini had a crush on Chowder; since Chowder is not old enough to fall in love with females, according to Greenblatt this aspect would frustrate Chowder "in a more fun way". In the last episode, it is shown that Chowder finally returned Panini's feelings and accepted her because he realizes that he made Panini's life miserable and they are married with many kids and was voiced by Grey DeLisle. Panini's name literally means "sandwiches" in Italian, while her former name, Borlotti, is a type of beans. * Ms. Endive (voiced by Mindy Sterling): An obese, intelligent, and somewhat snobbish 46-year-old female chef who teaches cooking to Panini with strict discipline. She's also occasionally portrayed as the show's main antagonist or villain. She is usually depicted as gargantuan in size. This is shown in the episode "The Apprentice Games" where Mung Daal and Chowder enter the games by riding on Endive's posterior. She regularly berates Mung Daal, whom she considers a rival. In the episode "Chowder's Girlfriend", it is revealed she despises boys and boyfriends because her fiancé did not show up on their wedding day. Ms. Endive is first seen in the second episode with Panini, "Chowder's Girlfriend". The creator describes her as Martha Stewart with Oompa-Loompa colors. Greenblatt chose to name her after the endive since endive is bitter and Belgian endive is fancy; hence the character is bitter and fancy. Endive's character stayed constant throughout the initial development. The long nose, which changed from a rectangular shape to a triangle shape for the final version, represents how Endive looks down at other characters. It was revealed in later episodes that Ms. Endive is in love with Shnitzel. Greenblatt said that he felt that her evolution throughout the series was fun to observe, especially when William Reiss wrote plots involving Endive. References Category:Chowder (TV series) Category:2007 American television series debuts Category:2010 American television series endings Category:2000s American animated television series Category:2000s American satirical television series Category:2000s American surreal comedy television series Category:2010s American animated television series Category:2010s American satirical television series Category:2010s American surreal comedy television series Category:American animated television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:American children's animated adventure television series Category:American children's animated comedy television series Category:American children's animated fantasy television series Category:Cartoon Network Studios series and characters Category:Child characters in television Category:English-language television programs Category:Metafictional television series Category:Television programs featuring puppetry Category:Television series created by C. H. Greenblatt